Muslim Student Hears “American Sniper” Will Be Shown on Campus and Then…

After a brief respite post-Oscar season, we are back for another episode of “stupid things said about the movie ‘American Sniper.'”

This week we bring you a University of Missouri student who wrote in to the school paper to demand a planned screening of the film be shut down and an official apology issued by those who approved it.

She writes, “because I have no other choice but to advocate on my behalf for my safety on a campus where I already feel unsafe as a Muslim woman of color who chooses to wear the hijab.”

You can immediately tell from one of the first sentences that the student has not seen the film or read the book – “The film glorifies the mass murder of Iraqis, including civilians who are men, women and children” – because in no way does the movie glorify terrorists’ “mass murder of Iraqis, including civilians who are men, women and children.” Instead, we are horrified by terrorists drilling innocent Iraqi children to death in front of their families or men strung and cut up like slabs of meat in torture rooms. That is the real mass murder of civilians.

She goes on to say:

“the film has bolstered the idea that Arabs and Muslims are less than human and somehow deserving of the devastation that has been wrought on their bodies by the U.S. military — and more.

[White Americans] have sympathized more easily with a killer with no regard for human life than they have with the staggering numbers of people whose lives were taken by the hero of this film.”

Again, terrorists with no regard for human life who torture innocents to death = less than human and deserving of the devastation wrought on their bodies by the U.S. military. Innocents who are being tortured = NOT.

It’s interesting that she is the one painting Arabs and Muslims with a broad brush, as if either they’re all terrorists or none of them are. She can’t seem to grasp that there are some Arabs and Muslims who are terrorists and want to kill anyone who disagrees with them, and there are most who do not. We are the ones able to make this extremely important distinction.

In fact, perhaps someone should let her know how Iraqis supported the film.

More typical ridiculousness that passes as deep thought on campuses these days, complete with trendy leftist buzzwords:

I move through a world where hate and violence directed at my body is discounted as being motivated by anything other than hatred, racism, sexism or xenophobia.

I do not feel safe on this campus and for good reason. The fact that this film is being shown, the fact that I have to explain why this film is not only problematic but harmful makes me feel even more unsafe. Showing this film will create an even more hostile environment for me and other Arab, Muslim, South Asian and people of color on this campus.

I am requesting that this film not be shown and that it either be replaced with a film that does not glorify violence or support existing systems of domination and oppression, or an event addressing “American Sniper” and similar films and media texts using a critical lens. This film is blatant racist, colonialist propaganda that should not be shown under any circumstances and especially not endorsed by a branch of student government that purports to represent me and have my best interests in mind.

Lastly, I would like to clarify that this is not an attempt at censorship but an affirmation of my right to feel safe in my body and identity wherever I may be, including this campus. Freedom of speech should not come at the expense of anyone’s humanity and right to be viewed, talked about and treated with basic respect and dignity.

I am asking that this film not be shown and that an official, public apology and explanation be issued by all parties involved in approving the screening of American Sniper on Mizzou’s campus.

H/T Breitbart

LOLing at her warped definitions of “censorship” and “freedom of speech” because otherwise I’ll cry. (WHAT is up with college students saying they value free speech right before asking for it to be taken away?!) The answer to speech you don’t like is more speech, not less.

Rather than asking for the film to be banned, I think this student should actually watch it so at the very least she can better inform her opinions and not look so silly with wild conjectures based on assumptions of what she thinks it might show.

When I was in college and Fahrenheit 9/11 played on campus, I didn’t petition to have the film banned, I went to see it. I researched it, watched it, then handed out flyers debunking it to people as they left the theater.

Don’t end debate – educate! Foster a discussion and you’ll win over far more people than you ever would have if you had stifled it.

THAT’S what they should be teaching in schools these days.